Stocking foot



May 22, 1945. 2,376,398

A. Y. STEFFANSON, NOW B'Y JUDICIAL DEGREE A. M. YANDELL STOCKING FOOT Filed' April 10, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Him! I. Sky ahara *mxewwwh May 22; 1945. 2,376,398

A. Y. STEF'FANSON, NOW BY JUDICIAL DEGREE A. M. YANDELL,

STOCKING FOOT Filed April 10, 1943 2 sheets-sheet? INVENTOR.

4Z1?! Sit 721115011 MWQMWSMY? part of the foot.

. special tightening means.

Patented Ma 22, 1945 1 UNITED STATE judicial decree Anne McBride Yandellj AppllcationlApril t, 1943, Serial nmueznea a f iclaim. on 36-10).

This invention relates generall to a structure hosiery best described asya stock in the fieldfof ing foot..

The designing and manufactuiingof a suitable stocking foot of this type presents many difliculties. In the ilrstplace it is highly desirable to have such a stocking foot cut sufliciently low so that it will not appear above the shoe line at any place. Since women s shoes are, ingeneral, cut with varying shaped low li'nes especiafly across and properly shaped stocking footto' be concealed by the average womens shoe presents a very difficultproblemiq it The low cut of such stocking feetpresents further difiicultiesin that, as a resultthereol,

they have atendency to falldown orrideoff" the heel of the wearer. Attempts to prevent them from fallingorriding down by rneans of a tightening around the foot opening have generally resultedi nlastructure which cutsthe wearer across the instep; Additionally,suchstructures have generally required the use of rubber or elastic, which productsmay at jtirnes be cliflicult to obtain. i i ii A Theflmain object of the present invention is to l the instep, theprovision of a sufliciently low cut p which has been cut to form a heel of manufacturing stocking feet, especially of the concealed type, suchmethod 'of manuiacturin being highly efficient and requiring a minimum of manufacturing time.

The achievement of these and further objects uwill be apparent upon a 'study of the specification and accompanying drawings, in which? i Fig; 1 is a plan v'iew'of a blank cut accordingto the; predetermined pattern and which forms the .main *body portion ofmy new stocking foot;

Fig. 2 is aplan view. of onepiece'ofmaterial Fig. 3c isaplan view of another piece of material cut to shape-and used to form the heel envelop f j Fig.5 is a plan view of the floating heel su tporter;

Fig. 5is aplan view partly in section and showing the manner in whichftheheel structure is. formed;

Fig. 6 is a cross secti r al view taken along the li s 5-4; of Fi 5;.

provide' a conceal'edtype of stocking foot which meets all of the desirable characteristics of such footwear. It is thus an object of my invention to provide a new type of concealed stocking foot which is extremely low cut and preferably does not show above theshoe line, which; has the ability to stay on without sliding ofi the: heel, and which achieves this lowness and abilityt'o stayon without sacrificing comfortable iitjand without resultingin any cuttinggof the" instep or other Another object is theprovision of sucha structure without the use of elastic, rubber or other A further objectis to form anoveltoestructure providingaten ioning pull to-support the sides and heel of the stocking foot on the wearer,

avoid cutting or binding.

at the same time retaining sufificientjflexibility to It is a. further object jof myfifnvention toprovide such a structure which is completely reversible and which may be ,used on either side with both A further object isto provide a novel" method 7 isja perspective view '6: the stockingf oot during the course of manufacturing andsjhowing a portion of theheel broken away;

.. ig. 18 is a further perspective viewduring manufacture; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the stocking. foot in completed form"; i 1 j Fig. 10 is' a sideview oithe foot showingthe stocking foot inwearing position; y Fig. 11 isaperspectiveview of a footshowing the stocking foot'inpo'sition;

1 Fig. 12 is a further perspective ViQ WOf the i Fig. 13 is a cross sectlonalyiew of the toe and showing theconcealed stitch; and.

Fig. 14 is'fa cross sectional view of the heel showing the concealed heel stitch and heel supporter. A 1

Referring now to the drawings, I shall describe one embodiment of myinvention, but I desire it understood thatthe description is merely illustrative to one. application thereof and is not to be takenina limiting sense. i

Fig. 1 shows a blank 10 cut to form the sole, sides and toe portion of the stocking foot. I This blank is preferablycut as. one piece and com d prises a central section 1!, generally forming the sole and provided at both the front and rear ends. with substantially curved or rounded extensions v Disposed to either side of the central section are the side arid to'e forming portions generally re l2, and l3 having approximately. semi-circular curved outer edges 12a and l3a.

ferred to as I4 and I5. The central sections I 6 and I! are of narrow width, substantially rectangular, and form the sides of the stocking foot. Each of the sides I6 and I! are formed at their forward ends with approximately semi-' circular extensions I8 and I9 substantially similar in shape and size to the extension I2 of the central portion II and having substantially semicircular outer edges I8a and I911. The toe extensions I 8 and I9 are substantially wider than the sides I6 and I1 and are joined to the edges thereof by the inside edges, sometimes referred to as the toe or instep cross lines, designated re spectively as 20 and 2|. are cut substantially transverse to the longitudinal foot line. By the use of the term substan-v tially transverse, it is to be understood that I mean a line which is placed sufiiciently athwart or across the foot to act, when the stocking is on the wearer, as an upward pull on the sides} and so that the sides do not fall down.

The positioning of this line in a direction across the width of the foot provides a smooth and comfortable fit as well as the necessary cross ten: sioning and resiliency to keep the narrow sides I6 and I! and the heel from slipping or riding down.

In preferred form, the lines I 8a. and 20 and the lines I9a. and 2| meet atrespective points 20a and 2Ia. These points are selected so that when side and toe portions I4 and I5 are folded over for stitching, point 20a approximately incides with point I22), and point Zla coincides with I20. It is also observed that the edges 22 and 23 are joined respectively to the edges 2I and 20 by curved edges 24 and 25.

The rear edges of the sides I4 and I are preferably formed with a slight curve shown respectively at 26 and 21, which curve, when the stocking is worn, is in slightly downwardly and rearwardly extending position.

Figs. 2 and 3 represent pieces of fabric out to form the heel portion. As will be seen, both of the portionsshown are similar in shape and are approximately half-moons or semi-circular. If desired, only a single thickness heel may be used, in which event, only one heel portionv will be used, for example, 28 of Fig. 2. This shaped heel gives the desirable molded fit. However, in the preferred structure, the doubleon envelope type of heel is used. In that event, one of these portions,.for example, 28 will .form the inside of the heel while the. other, 29, will form the outside of the heel.

Preferably, in forming these stocking feet, the

usual flexible stocking materials such as cotton, rayon, silk or substitutes therefor are used. These materials are generally woven or knitted and have a certain degree of inherent elasticity and are extremely soft and flexible and do not support themselves in any rigid position.

Therefore, in carrying out my invention, it may in some instances be desirable to use a supporter or stiffener to. impart rigidity to the heel structure. v shown one desirable form of such supporter whose shape is similar to that of the portions forming the heel shown in Figs. 2 and 3 but which is slightly smaller. This supporter which is adapted to fit in the heel envelope and to be retained therebetween without being secured to the fabric (i. e. in floating position) may be formed from canvas, paper, plastics of various types or other suitable stiff material, it being desirable, however, that it be washable.

Accordinglyin Fig. 4 I havev These instep cross lines The method of assembling of the various parts into the finished footwear and the sequence of operations is preferably as hereinafter described. First, referring to Fig. 5, which illustrates the preferred envelope heel structure, the two heel portions 28 and 29 are held in position one to each side of the blank II] with their respective corners 33 and 34 in contact with the corner 35. Thereaftenby means of the stitching 36, the two heel portions are sewed entirely along their circular periphery to the back edge of the two side portions I4 and I5, as well as the sole portion II. Then the two heel portions are folded back on themselves, thus leaving the stitching 36 concealed and providing a heel afiixed to the sides by arcuate downwardly rearwardly slanting lines 3|. Atthis time and if the heel supporter 30 is to be used, it is inserted between the two heel portions 28 and 29 and permitted to float between them.- Then, by means of a suitable stitch 3'1 and while thestocking foot is still in substantially a'flat position, the edge which will form the top of the foot is stitched.

. As will be noticed, this closes the opening-bethe two heel portions.

tween the two heel portions 28 and 29 through which the supporter'had been inserted, leaving it, as shown in Fig. '7, in floating position between The stitch 3'! is prefer ably one which appears the same on both sides of the fabric. This is highly desirable in that the present structure is made reversible.

The next operation consists in sewing the toe structure. To do this,.the stocking foot is first folded as shown in Fig; 7. With respect to the sole or central section II, one side and toeportion, for example, I5 isfolded over the top of it, while the-other side and toe portion, namely [4, is folded under it. In this position and as shown in Fig. 8, by a suitable stitch 38 the rounded peripheral edges-of the toe portions I8 and I9 are sewn to the rounded peripheral edge of the sole portion I2. Thereafter, by reversing the toe portion I 4, that is, turning it up. over the portion I9 the structure shown in Fig. 9 is completed. It will be observed that by thismeans ofstitching, both the toe and the heel stitches are invisible. This structure makes the stocking foot completely reversible so thatif turned inside out when taken off, it is still in position to'be immediately put on again. Also reversibility is highly desirable from the point of view of wear, inasmuch as holes on one side of the stocking foot do not mean that it has to be discarded, but merely that it can be reversed and used. on the other side. .This concealed stitch and practically invisible seam makes these structures highly desirable in connection with open toe shoes. Also, the seams occur only at points where the seaming causes the least discomfort.

Reference to Figs. 11 and 12 will show the smooth fit which is achieved' by means of the present structure without any strains or irregularities being caused. In Fig. 11 it willbe noted that due to the manner in whichline 2| was posithe cross sections of Figs. 13 and .14. It will be noticed therein that the double or envelope type of heel provides a natural means for securing and retaining the floating heel supporter. This supporter, due to the fact that it is covered with a soft material causes no friction 'or rubbing against the skin of the wearer'and .thus a desirable feature 'is achieved without in the slightest sacrificing the comfort and fit of the hosiery. The double toe and heel thus furnish added protection and softness where most needed.

The direction of crossing of instep cross lines is preferably planned so that the undercross line is positioned nearest to the inside of the foot and is thus in closest proximity to the big toe. In this connection, for example, Figs. 11 and 12 both show right feet.

It is thus to be seen'that by the use of my original construction and without the use of elastic or rubber, I have provided a structure having a definite resiliency and cling to the foot without any cutting or binding over the instep or over any other part of the foot. 'Ifhe design of the toe structure provides for flexibility and close fit, permitting a low out such that the stocking foot can be designed so as not to show over the top of the very low shoes worn by most women. In conjunction therewith and by use of the curved heel, a rounded and sculptured fit conforming to the foot of the wearer is achieved. Incombination with the toe structure, there is thereby provided an unusual stocking foot overcoming all of the objections of the prior known products.

While the structure is desired to be used as a unit, it should be pointed out that certain features of my invention maybe utilized with or without certain other features and no limitations are intended except as required by the appended claim.

I claim:

A reversible stocking foot comprising a sole having a substantially semicircular toe end, a

heel, and sides each having substantially similar semicircular forward toe extensions, said latter extensions mutually crossing and each being secured to said toe end along substantially the full periphery thereof by means of a stitch lying between said crossed extensions.

ANNE Y. STEFFANSON. 

